Happy New Year! Let’s wrap up 2021 with a review of all things accounting and auditing! 2021 saw a flurry of activity from the AICPA, FASB and GASB. We’ll review the final and proposed standards that were issued in 2021. Wishing you all a prosperous 2022!
FASB announced its updated research agenda based off of initial discussions of the earlier 2021 Invitation to Comment. The ITC was an agenda consultation project to hear from stakeholders what their thoughts were on the next phase of standard setting. The research agenda includes 6 items that if approved will move to the standard setting agenda.
The FASB has issued an exposure draft as part of its Disclosure Framework project to update the disclosure requirements for interim reporting. The proposal follows ASU 2018-13 and 2018-14 in updating disclosures using the new conceptual framework. Comments are due January 31, 2022.
The AICPA has issued a proposed ethics interpretation to help CPAs understand to what extent they can assist clients with implementing new accounting standards. The proposal identifies certain items as being nonattest services for which the normal rules for nonattest services would apply – management having SKE, management accepting responsibility, etc. On the other hand, it also identifies prohibited nonattest services the CPA can not perform without impairing independence. Comments are due December 20, 2021.
FASB has issued a proposed ASU addressing the accounting for investments in equity securities measured at fair value that are subject to contractual restrictions preventing the sale of those securities. The proposal clarifies that a contractual restriction on the sale of these securities is not considered part of the unit of account of the equity security which means it does not impact the measurement of fair value. Comments are due by November 14, 2021.
